Lucy Mangan's weekend column + Christianity | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/lucy-mangan-weekend-column+world/christianity
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Lucy Mangan: when will David Cameron practise what he preaches?http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/26/david-cameron-christian-britain-lucy-mangan
So, the prime minister insists we're at heart a Christian country. Shame his policies aren't, then<p>I'm delighted that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/18/david-cameron-god-faith" title="">David Cameron is identifying himself and our country as Christian</a> – that's my country, and his, and yours, and yours, and yours, and yours, too. Though of no practising faith myself (I had some water poured over my head when I was a&nbsp;baby, but it didn't mean much to me at the time, and in the years since it hasn't come to mean much more), I&nbsp;think that religion, Christian or otherwise, is one of the best methods we've ever come up with for: a) producing splendid music; b)&nbsp;inspiring architecture designed to&nbsp;lift the hearts, minds and spirits of people down the ages (instead of&nbsp;making even its contemporary viewers, never mind those of later generations, sick up through their eyes); and c) organising society, by&nbsp;encouraging people to strive towards kindness, fairness, charity, cooperation and other lovely things against which our baser natures would otherwise militate.</p><p>Except, of&nbsp;course, for all the times that it doesn't. Then I think that some kind of voucher system would be better: collect 10 &quot;I&nbsp;put others before myself today&quot; tickets (validated by the putted-before) and get a&nbsp;free burger; that sort&nbsp;of&nbsp;thing.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/26/david-cameron-christian-britain-lucy-mangan">Continue reading...</a>David CameronPoliticsReligionWorld newsChristianityLife and styleSat, 26 Apr 2014 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/26/david-cameron-christian-britain-lucy-manganPeter Macdiarmid/PA Archive/Press Association ImagesLucy Mangan: 'David Cameron says he's Christian, as is the nation at large. Funny way to show it…' Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/PA Archive/Press Association ImagesPeter Macdiarmid/PA Archive/Press Association ImagesDavid Cameron at St Michael and All Angels church in Southfields, London. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/PA Archive/Press Association ImagesLucy Mangan2014-04-26T07:00:00ZLucy Mangan: my life's one long guilt triphttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/feb/22/lucy-mangan-life-guilt-trip
My prime motivating force, the&nbsp;engine that powers all else, is guilt. The Catholics have their weekly absolution. Isn't it about time the rest of us had a secular alternative?<p>I'm currently reading <a href="http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9781781251089" title="">The Dark Box: Confession In The Catholic Church</a>, partly&nbsp;because I'm always up for a&nbsp;dose of Catholic history (it's the maddest sort there is) and partly because the&nbsp;only element of my parents' devoutly Catholic upbringing I have ever envied them is the weekly ritual of&nbsp;confession.</p><p>I don't know about you, but I&nbsp;run&nbsp;on guilt. I feel bad about everything,&nbsp;from little things such as not laying socks properly flat on the radiator to&nbsp;dry to opening an extra tab on my&nbsp;computer (yes, really. It's something to do with only using your fair share, even of an infinite, cost-free resource. Listen, the whole problem is that I don't make the rules, OK?), and work outwards from there.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/feb/22/lucy-mangan-life-guilt-trip">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleCatholicismReligionChristianityRelationshipsSat, 22 Feb 2014 09:01:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/feb/22/lucy-mangan-life-guilt-tripAlamy'The idea of having somewhere to go every Sunday to be absolved of all your sins and being ascribed a penance has a charm all its own.' Photograph: AlamyAlamy'The idea of having somewhere to go every Sunday to be absolved of all your sins and being ascribed a penance has a charm all its own.' Photograph: AlamyLucy Mangan2014-02-22T09:01:02ZLucy Mangan: my picks to be the next popehttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/mar/02/next-pope-candidates-lucy-mangan
Clearly anything goes these days, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that one of this lot could be the next pope. Is it?<p>Let's see. Quentin Tarantino has a&nbsp;girlfriend called <a href="http://www.zimbio.com/2013+Oscars/articles/j6IZ-1YvOb-/Quentin+Tarantino+Makes+Debut+Girlfriend+Lianne" title="">Spiderbaby</a>. Jimmy Choo has produced, and is selling for &pound;105, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jimmy-Choo-Accessories-Leather-Sleeve/dp/B009QADXJU" title="">a&nbsp;pink leather cup-sleeve</a> that protects fashion-conscious fingers from the heat of a takeaway coffee. (I'm assuming you've ordered a&nbsp;grande stupiddiato with dongbrain sprinkles. Enjoy!) Kate Winslet is married to someone called Ned Rocknroll, and a friend was recently invited to dine at a restaurant that celebrates &quot;the spirit of nowness&quot;.</p><p>On the grounds that clearly anything in the world is now possible, let us turn to the Catholic church – currently seeking candidates to fill the post of pope, now that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/11/pope-resigns-live-reaction" title="">Benedict XVI has resigned</a> to spend more time with his books and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/25/cardinal-obrien-resigns-full-statements" title="">Cardinal Keith O'Brien has stepped down</a> to spend more time with his hobbies and/or preparing his defence, depending on what those hobbies turn out to have been. I've decided to help the Vatican with its job search by throwing wide the doors of perception and suggesting a few aspirants whose applications the miniature state might not have yet thought to solicit…</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/mar/02/next-pope-candidates-lucy-mangan">Continue reading...</a>Life and stylePope Benedict XVIReligionCatholicismChristianityWorld newsThe papacySat, 02 Mar 2013 09:01:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/mar/02/next-pope-candidates-lucy-manganAFP/Getty ImagesBolt from the blue: What chance one of Lucy Mangan's contenders will be the Vatican's shock choice to be the next pope?AFP/Getty ImagesBolt from the blue: What chance one of my contenders will be the Vatican's shock choice to be the next Pope?Lucy Mangan2013-03-02T09:01:02Z